Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and other media. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems. All multiple access wireless communication systems require sufficient access to available radio spectrum for supporting bearer service requirements.
Licensed Shared Access (LSA) is a new innovative framework that enables more efficient usage of available spectrum by allowing coordinated shared access to licensed spectrum to address spectrum shortage. Currently, there is no protocol provided in the 3GPP LTE standard for efficient handoff of established bearers during return of shared LSA spectrum resources. Thus, in order to realize the full benefit of proposed dynamic frequency sharing systems, there is now a need for enhancements to current handoff signaling in a 3GPP LTE standard.